School officials said the money will be invested and the interest will yield about $6,000 a year for scholarships.

Superintendent James Ritchie said he was pleased with the bequest, but wished he knew more about Palmer.

Relatives and friends of Palmer, who owned a food market on Woodford Avenue, said he was a generous and helpful man who was fond of children.

"He was always happy around children," said Agnes Gerhardz, a neighbor. "Even in the grocery store when he saw a child in the cart, he had to talk to them. He was so good to everybody that people would help him [when he got older] and plow his driveway and mow the grass."

Palmer was married to Margaret Blank; they had no children. He died of coronary failure at 88.

His estate, which included the proceeds from the sale of his Atherton Terrace home and property in Morris, totaled more than $560,000.

In his will, he requested that his money be given to Gerhardz's grandchildren and the four organizations.

School officials said college sophomores who have a 2.75 grade point average will be eligible for the Howard Palmer Memorial Scholarship.